Sermon Manuscript

[Video: “Guide to Greatness - Bumper” - 0:41]

Paul Harvey, a famous American radio broadcaster, once said, “Golf is a game where you yell ‘four’, shoot six, and write down five.” And Billy Graham once said, “The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.” Simply put. Golf is a frustrating game. It’s a game where you occasionally think you can master it only to quickly be brought back to reality.

Growing up my father loved golf and he taught me to love the game. Our family belonged to a golf course called Crab Orchard Golf Course in Carterville, Illinois and I grew up playing a lot of golf. Even before I could drive. I remember riding my bike to the golf course carrying my clubs and would play all day long. I also would hit balls on the driving range and even participated a few times in Junior Club tournaments. But I could never master the game. Only appreciate it.

So when I became a father I began to teach Will and Andrew about golf and told them how great of a game it was. I told them what my father taught me. That golf is a game you can play into your 80’s. You can play it your whole life. And I would watch certain tournaments on TV like the Masters and tell them about the history and the traditions. The green jacket and famous players and famous holes. But they never were interested. Until they reached High School.

It was as if they said, “Dad, you were right without actually saying it.” Because Will started playing and then Andrew. Andrew played in High School and got better and better. And over the past several years golf has become a game for us to spend time together. And one that Deb supports. So I have learned to love it more and more. Because on the golf course I get to spend time with Will and Andrew doing something fun that we all enjoy.

And so this summer while they’ve been home we’ve played a lot of golf together. And even watched golf together. Recently, it was the British Open or what is now known as “The Open.” It’s one of the four major championships. And if you saw it this year then you know that a golfer named Scottie Scheffler won. Scottie Scheffler, if you’re not familiar with him, is the number one golfer in the world. And it’s not even close. At the age of 29, he already has 17 career wins and 4 this year. He has 52 top 5 finishes. Most importantly, he’s already won 4 majors. And he’s tied for the youngest player ever to have at least 15 wins and 4 majors. Some are saying he’s the next Tiger Woods. Especially after winning his fourth major at The Open.

But something happened right after he won that grabbed many people’s attention. Here’s how they described it on the Today Show. Let’s watch:

[Video: “Bennett Falls” - 1:19]

That really was adorable and it was a great moment. But here’s why I bring that up. After winning this tournament and being asked about how important this win was to him Scottie Scheffler said something interesting. He said, “This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That’s why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me? Because I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that’s what’s more important to me.” In other words, the greatest golfer in the world said being number 1 is not all it’s cracked up to be. And then Tom Brady responded. Tom Brady, who may be the greatest Quarterback of all-time, a 7 time Super Bowl winner, responded over social media and was appalled. He said, “Why is being a great father and being a great athlete mutually exclusive? I think being a great father is being a great example of doing what it takes to take care of your family. I choose to do it by playing football.”

You see Tom Brady just didn’t get it. He doesn’t understand what Scottie Scheffler was saying about his priorities in life. Two GOATS. One in golf. Another in football. With two very different views of what it means to be great. And today we’re going to examine a passage of Scripture in which a question was asked to Jesus about what it means to be great. And within it are truths that you and I need to understand if we want to be great not at sports but in life.

So let’s get started. If you have your Bibles, turn with me now to the book of Mark chapter 12. Today we’re going to be in verses 28-34. If you would like to follow along with us online you can do so as well by using our app. It’s called Church Center and we mention it each week. So if you open it up and click on Sunday Services followed by Message Notes you will find our outline and a way for you to take notes. You will also find this morning’s passage of Scripture.  

As you turn there, let me quickly remind you about our series and give you some context for the passage we’re going to be examining. Today we wrap up our series called Guide to Greatness where over the past four weeks we have been examining passages from the Gospel of Mark in order to learn about greatness. In week one, we examined the greatest message of all-time as Seth shared with us about the Gospel. In week two, we examined the greatest response of all-time to the Gospel as Isaiah shared with us about faith. In week three, I shared with you about our mission trip but also briefly about the greatest need for productivity in rest. And then last week Nathan Cecil shared with us about the greatest form of leadership by serving others. But today we’re going to examine the greatest command that God ever gave.

And to do so we’re going to examine a story that took place in the life of Jesus during His final week in Jerusalem. So at this time Jesus had gone to Jerusalem for Passover. He had entered triumphantly into the city and people praised Him and laid palm branches down. They also cried out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” A mountaintop moment for Jesus. But not all who were there were happy. Some of the religious leaders were jealous and wanted Him killed and by the end of the week, on Friday, they will do just that. Jesus will be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, brought before political and religious leaders, and sentenced to death on a cross. Three days later He will rise from the dead.

But the Triumphal Entry is spoken of in the Gospel of Mark at the beginning of chapter 11. So as we get into chapter 12 we know that Jesus is now being pursued by his enemies. Because in chapter 11 His authority is challenged and in chapter 12 He’s asked some tough questions about paying taxes to Caesar and His view on the resurrection of the dead. This was a huge debate at the time. A group of religious leaders called Pharisees believed in the resurrection but another group called Sadducees did not. So after answering their question a Pharisee who was also a scribe came up to Jesus and asked him a question. He had seen that Jesus had answered the other questions well and he had a question for Him. This account, by the way, is also found in Matthew and Matthew tells us that this man was trying to test Jesus in Matthew 22:35. And here’s how Mark describes this encounter in Mark 12, verse 28. We read:

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Alright. So let’s take a look at this story. It’s a familiar story to many of us. However, there’s a lot here and Mark Moore within this week’s Core 52 chapter called The Greatest Command had some really great insight. I learned a lot from his insights and appreciated what he had to say so as we examine this story I want to share with you some of his insights as well.

Verse 28 begins by telling us that a scribe came to Jesus. Stop there. A scribe was a professional copier of God’s Word. In the ancient world long before Xerox copy machines there was a need to make copies of Scripture. But Scripture is God’s Holy Word and every single part of it is from Him. In English we might say, “Every capital letter, every comma, every period or exclamation point, every part of God’s Word is important.” So this was a man who daily studied the Scriptures. He would have known it well. Probably could recall most of it from memory and could recite huge portions of it. So this man, this expert in the Law, listened to how Jesus had answered the other questions and thought, “Hey, I’ve got a question for

myself.”

And he came to Jesus and said, “Jesus, which of God’s commands is most important?” Now traditionally it was believed that there were 613 commands in the Torah or the first five books of the Old Testament - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But this man said to Jesus, “OK. Jesus. Which of all of those commands are most important? I want you to think about all 613 and give me the most important one.” Sounds like a huge task but as Mark Moore points out in the chapter it actually wasn’t. Why? Because every Jew knew what the greatest command was. It was a command prayed every day, spoken in every synagogue service, and even printed and placed on little scrolls inside of the phylacteries on a rabbi’s head if you’ve ever seen them before. It was also hung on mezuzahs on Jewish doors.

It was a command given by God given by Moses that was known as the Shema or the “Hear O Israel”. Shama is the Hebrew word for “Hear”. And in Deuteronomy 6:4 Moses said to God’s people, “Hear O Israel. The Lord our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might.”  

So when Jesus responded and said, “The most important one is” and quoted the Shema the scribe would have instantly understood Him and agreed with Him. But what’s interesting is that Jesus doesn’t stop there. Both in Matthew’s account and in Mark’s. Because Jesus continues and He says, “The second one is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Now God did not speak those words in Deuteronomy 6 but he did speak them in Leviticus 19:18.  

And those two commands summarized all others. They summarized all 613 commands found within the Mosaic Law or the Torah. They also summarized the Ten Commandments because in the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses and His people while Moses was on Mount Sinai and after they had fled Egypt the first four were all about God and the second six were all about others. So to love God and to love others fulfilled the Ten Commandments but also all of the 613 commandments given by God within the Torah which this man would have known well.

And this is why he responded in the way that he did. This is why he said in verse 32 to Jesus that, “You are right Teacher. You have truly said that God is one and to love Him with all of your heart and with all the understanding and all the strength and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is much more than all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In other words, this man repeated back to Jesus what he said and added to it the idea that loving God and loving others is more important to God than giving Him offerings and sacrifices. Love is a greater offering to God.

And as a result, notice what Jesus said. It’s key. Because when He noticed that this man had answered wisely He said what? He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Now why would Jesus say that? Why would Jesus say that He was not far from the kingdom of God? Well, let’s think about this. Here’s what I think happened. This scribe started off as an enemy of Jesus. Like the other religious leaders he came to confront and challenge Jesus. Matthew said that he came to test Jesus with this question. He had heard Him answer the other questions well so he came to challenge him with this one. But when he heard Jesus’ answer he recognized that he was right. And he called Jesus a “Teacher”. So that means that this man has gone from being an enemy of Jesus to a student of Jesus. He’s willing to learn from Him. But there’s one more step involved. He still needs to come to discover that Jesus is not just a man who knows God and speaks about God. This scribe needed to discover that Jesus is God. He is the King. He is Lord. And so in listening to this man speak Jesus can tell that he’s starting to see Jesus as a source of truth but he needs to see that He is the Way, the truth and the Life. He news to see Jesus as God’s Son and the King. So he sees this man drawing closer and He wants to encourage him to keep going. To keep thinking. To keep discovering more about who He is. So He says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Pretty incredible and we’re told that no one will ask Him any further questions.

So what do we learn from this story? What do we learn from what Jesus taught that scribe on that day about the greatest command of all? Let’s unpack that this morning by understanding 3 truths we need to learn if we want to obey the greatest command. If you’re following along with us online these are also the three blanks on your outlines. Three statements which each start with the phrase “I must love God by.”

The first truth is this: I must love God by giving everything. I must love God by giving to Him everything. Jesus told the scribe that the greatest command was to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Matthew’s account says just your heart, soul, and strength. At other places in the Scripture it teaches us to love God with our heart and soul. But Mark Moore points out correctly that whether it’s two parts, three, parts, or four the point is still the same. We are to love God with every part of us. We’re to love Him with our heart or our emotions. We’re to love God with our soul or our desires. We’re to love God with our minds which is our thoughts and intellectual capacity. And we’re to love God with our strength which includes both our physical abilities but also our time, money, possessions, influence, and connections. We must love God with every aspect of our life.  

Mark Moore explains it this way on page 211. He says, “We can’t love God with only part of who we are and claim that it’s actual love for God. If we’re moved at church we must move into our communities. We can’t read the Bible eagerly and not change our habits, our hearts, and our schedules. It makes no sense to trust God with our eternity but not with our finances. Nor can we trust God to forgive us our sins and not turn around and forgive those who’ve sinned against us. It’s senseless to thank God for the job we have but not rest on the Sabbath when he promised it would increase our productivity.” End quote. We must love God with everything.

So let me just ask you this question: Are you loving God with everything? Are you loving God with your heart and soul? Do you love Him with your feelings and your desires? Do you long to be with God and spend time with Him daily? Do you love Him with your mind? Do you read and study His Word? Do you read books or listen to music or podcasts which honor Him? Do you watch TV or stream videos that honor Him? Do you love Him with all of your strength? Do you love Him through the way you treat your body or use your time, money, and influence? Do you love Him with everything? Because that’s the point of the greatest command.

Here’s a second truth which is tied to the first: I must love God by loving others. Jesus didn’t stop with the greatest command. He gave to the scribe the greatest two commands. Why? It was because the first was tied to the second. In other words, you cannot love God if you do not love others. Mark Moore states it this way on page 209. He says: “Our love for God can only be enacted through our love for our neighbor.” You cannot love God without loving others. You cannot love God without those whom He loves. So you cannot love God without loving His Bride or the Church. You cannot love God without loving “Christians”. However, you cannot love God without also loving “non-Christians”. Those who do know Christ. Atheists and Agnostics. Mormons and Muslims. Jews and Jehovah’s Witnesses. You cannot love God without loving the people of this world. And that’s not easy. It’s hard.

So let me ask you this question: Are you loving all of the people in your life? Who are you having trouble loving? Maybe it’s a friend or family member? Maybe it’s a co-worker who hates Christianity or a Christian leader who’s hurt you? Who is it that you are having trouble loving? Whoever it is, can I just suggest you pray for them? Once you start praying for people it’s hard to hate them. You might not like them and God may have to work in you to completely change your heart but it’s hard to hate someone you’re praying for and who you want to know Jesus.

The third and final truth is this: I must love God by following Jesus. The scribe believed Jesus when he was told the greatest commandment was to love God. The scribe believed Jesus when he was told the second greatest commandment was to love others. He even understood that loving God and loving others was more important to God than sacrifices. He believed Jesus but he didn’t quite believe in Jesus. He believed Jesus was a good Teacher. Maybe even a great Teacher. But he didn’t quite believe that Jesus was God’s Son and the Savior of the world sent to save him and all others from their sins. Because he wasn’t yet following Jesus. He was learning from Jesus. First step of faith. But he needed to trust in Jesus. Second step of faith. And follow Jesus. Third step of faith. He was drawing near the kingdom of God and looking into it from the outside but he hadn’t quite stepped inside.

Today many people claim to love God but are not following Jesus. The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to love God but they do not follow Jesus. They say He was a created god. The Mormons claim to love God and say Jesus is a god but they believe in many gods and even that you can become a god. The Muslims claim to love God but they do not follow Jesus. They say Jesus was just a great Teacher and one of many prophets and they instead follow the prophet Muhammad. There are many other examples of cults and religions who all claim to love God but they do not follow His Son. They do not follow Jesus.

So here’s a third question: Are you loving God by following His Son? Are you loving God by receiving the One He sent? Are you loving God by listening to and learning from the One He sent? Are you loving God by trusting in and following behind the One He sent? Just where are you today in your relationship to Jesus?

Because some of us this morning are like that scribe. We’re drawing near the kingdom but we’ve not yet stepped inside because we’ve not yet accepted the King. And God is saying to some of us, “When? When will you take that next step of faith and recognize Jesus not just as a great Man or a great moral Teacher but as the sinless, spotless, Son of the Living God and the Savior of the world? When will you recognize Him for who He truly is? Because you can’t truly love Me until you have received Him for who He is.”

Three truths. Three truths we need to wrestle with based upon what Jesus taught this scribe. Because when asked about the greatest command Jesus responded by giving the greatest two commands and in the process taught that if you really want to love God you need to love Him by giving everything, loving others, and following Jesus. That’s how you obey the greatest command. And that’s how you become great for God.

Let’s wrap up our time together in this way. This summer Andrew shared with me a video of a great YouTube golfer named Grant Horvat. Grant is a great golfer and he makes videos playing golf with famous people. Two months ago he came out with a video called “Can I Beat Scottie Scheffler if I start 5 Under Par?” I’ll let you take a look at it on your own to find out if he did. But Grant is a Christian and he’s very open about his faith. And so, too, is Scottie Scheffler. So in the midst of this video of them playing golf together Grant took the time to thank Scottie for being so open with his faith and encouraging him. Let’s watch:

[Video: “Grand Horvat and Scottie Scheffler” - 0:44]

You see the reason why Scottie Scheffler said that he would rather be a great father than a great golfer was because he was a Christian. He wasn’t trying to upset people like Tom Brady but he was trying to share his faith. And his faith in Jesus has changed his life. So much so that even though he’s the best golfer in the world he doesn’t view being successful in golf as the most important thing in his life. He views golf as a way to glorify God. He views golf as just another way to love God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. And he views golf as a way to love others by sharing his faith.

So what about you? How do you view your life and your profession? How do you view your free time and your hobbies? How do you view your wants, wishes, and desires? Do you view them as opportunities to love God or not? Do you view them as opportunities to love others or not? Because our love for God and others are tied together.

And what the scribe who asked Jesus about the greatest command learned on that day was that he needed to love God by giving everything, loving others, and ultimately following Jesus. Three truths he needed to learn and we need to learn as well. To enter the kingdom of God. Because what Jesus said to him he also says to us. If you want to be great, here’s how…

Enter the Kingdom of God by obeying the greatest command of God.

Let’s pray.

[Prayer: For God to help us love Him by giving everything, loving others, and following Jesus.]

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